Diabetes Everyday

Living your best life with diabetes. Toby Smithson provides professional guidance with personal experience.

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Being Physically Active

Traveling with Diabetes and Staying on Track

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Traveling with Diabetes and Staying on Track

Vacation: a period spent away from home or business in travel or recreation (Miriam Webster)

As a diabetes educator and a person with diabetes, I often find myself using the phrase “there is no vacation from diabetes.” And while that is true, it is certainly possible to take a vacation with diabetes. Here’s how I do it.

If you or a loved one has diabetes you already know that this chronic condition must be managed through lifestyle behaviors and with medication. But vacation always changes our behaviors (eating, drinking, sleeping, exercise) and often even our timing. These vacation changes can affect how we manage our blood sugar.

I have learned over the years that planning is a way to reduce stress associated with diabetes management while away from my normal daily routine, and planning can especially be reassuring when it comes to food choices while you are traveling. My most recent travels took me to Israel, and even though I researched how to find “carbohydrate” in Hebrew I still had trouble with the food labels because the portion size was given in different units than what we use here in the states. But, I could relax.

My personal trick is to pack my carry-on bag or purse with two categories of snacks: 1) snacks with fast acting carbohydrate like lifesavers, smarties candy, or dried fruit in case my blood sugar drops to 70 or below; and 2) snacks that have a mix of carbohydrate and protein like NuGo Slim bars to relieve hunger, to keep blood sugar steady, or eat as a meal replacement.

From a professional perspective, NuGo slim bars have a combo of carbohydrate and protein to fit into the meal plan of a person with diabetes (low glycemic index of 24-29, 7 grams fiber, 16-18 grams protein, and all under 200 calories/bar). https://www.nugonutrition.com/lifestyle/diabetes/

NuGo bars went everywhere I went on my trip. Knowing that I had something to eat as a snack or meal replacement on our fast paced, very active excursions was a safety net for me, and a tasty stress reducer.

Combat Sitting

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No, not instruction on how to sit during battle. Instead, exercises to help strengthen core muscles that suffer from to much “chair time.” Too much sitting, in fact, has been linked to serious health issues, but taking short breaks and getting the right exercises can make a big difference.

Study- Exercise Beneficial to Aging Even With a Late Start

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A study which followed 3,500 people for 8 years, starting at an average age of 64, found that significant “quality of life” advantages for those who were classified as active – moderate activity at least once per week or vigorous activity at least once per week- compared to those classified as “inactive.”

The researchers monitored medical records and gave tests to measure mental capacity to participants every two years, and classified their activity levels at those intervals. At the study’s conclusion they determined that about 19% could be classified as “healthy agers”– absence of disease, freedom from disability, high cognitive and physical functioning, and good mental health.

Participants who averaged either moderate or vigorous activity at least once per week were 4 times more likely to have been “healthy agers”, and importantly, those inactive participants who changed their activity patterns during the study were 3 times more likely to have been classified as a “healthy ager.” Significant benefits to physical and mental health were seen even in those who became active later in life.